1st Swiss trip: Basel or Lucerne, Rhine Falls tour, storage of luggage
A traveler is planning their first trip to Switzerland with two friends, arriving on May 11 and extending their stay until May 16. They want to visit Rhine Falls and are looking for advice on luggage storage at Schaffhausen Station, guided tours, and which city—Lucerne or Basel—would make a better base for further exploration of Swiss cities.
- Lockers are available at Schaffhausen Station for luggage storage.
- For a guided tour of Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhein, check with companies about luggage policies.
- Consider purchasing a Swiss Travel Pass for convenience during your trip.
- If you prefer mountain views and lakes, choose Lucerne; for museums and interesting architecture, choose Basel.
- Research both cities' amenities and transportation connections to find the best fit for your itinerary.
AI-generated summary-
This will be my first trip to Switzerland. There is 3 of us, who will complete a tour of Switzerland on May 11 BUT want to extend a few more days in Switzerland from May 12 to 16 (flying out on May 16).
We are planning to go to Rhine Falls on May 12 and hoping to find lockers at Schaffhausen station to store our luggages. ( I read that there are such luggage storage at this station. MySwissAlps {MSA} commnunity ==> Please correct me IF I got this wrong).
We are also keen to take a guided tour that covers both the Rhine Falls and Stein am Rhein but just wondering IF such tour companies will allow us to bring along our luggages. (anyone can advise please?)
And I also need guidance with :
- when I take a train from Zurich HB to see Rhine Falls, do we buy a ticket to go to Schaffhausen first .. get off train and find lockers to store our bags then get another ticket to go to SCHLOSS Luafen Am rheinfall (ie southbank of Rhine Fall) .. and we will adopt the 45 mins walking tour shared by MSA.
- After the Falls we plan to head to EITHER Basel OR Lucerne for 3 nights (ie May 12 to 15). Basel or Lucerne will be the base to further explore Basel, Bern & Lucern.
- Can please advice which of these two cities should we stay in, in terms of price and convenience. Plan on returning to Zurich and staying close to Zurich airport due to departure on May 16 at noon.
- Whilst on the tour we would have spent half day in Lucerne and another half day in Bern, but nothing in depth. Therefore, we would like to use May 13 to head to Lucerne to cover Mt Pilatus.
- Then May 14 to Bern ==> is this advisable? Or should I explore more of Basel instead.
- May 15, will get hotel to store bags and do a walking tour of Basel (using MSA map and recommendation). As we must leave Basel to head back to Zurich for a night at Airport Hotel.
- For the above train trips is it worthwhile to buy any Swiss train passes ?
- Therefore based on the preliminary plans above should we stay lucerne or basel for the 3 nights. As there seem to have more trains from Basel to Zurich Airport that runs till quite late.
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Hi ChinChin,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
Thanks for sharing your plans for your first trip here. You must be excited!
Yes, there are lockers available to store your luggage at Schaffhausen rail station. There is also a staffed office, where you can also leave your luggage. More on luggage services here:
For a guided tour to Rhine Falls and Stein Am Rhein, please take a look at the attached link below:
The company offering this tour allows luggage to be stored on the coach, I assume this would be a suitcase per person. You may want to double check the amount you can take along, if you have an excess amount.
Given you will be in Switzerland for a few days and based on your plans, I think it would make sense for you to invest in a rail pass. Either the Swiss Travel Pass, very convenient, you pretty much hop on/hop off as many times as you want or Saver Day Passes could work too. We have handy guides to both below, including purchase options:
- Saver Day Pass: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/saver-day-pass/
- Swiss Travel Pass: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/
To be sure, best to carry out some maths. Take a look at our “How to choose a rail pass” link below, there’s a spreadsheet that you can download to carry your calculations, thereon the best pass will be displayed:
Both Basel and Lucerne are accessible to Zurich, with good, regular connections. Lucerne being slightly closer. From what I can tell, you have already been using the Swiss timetable to research journey times (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/public-transport/timetable/). This is a good idea, that way you can gauge what is doable for your group.
In regards to which to base yourself, this will depend on your interests and activities you are planning to do. Here’s our guides to both, perhaps take a read and see which you may prefer. Both are quite different. If you after mountain views, lakes and access to the mountains, Lucerne would be better. Basel is larger, has many museums, the architecture I find quite interesting.
Within both the guides, you’ll also find accommodation suggestions covering all budgets. I suggest you take a look and make a comparison 🙂
Zurich airport suggestions can be found here: https://www.myswissalps.com/accommodation/hotels/zurich/airport/
You can play by ear if you choose to visit Bern (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/bern/), incase you find you’d like to explore more of Basel? If you are based in Lucerne, a trip to Bern would be longer.
I hope this gets you started.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
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